It's a Conspiracy

For years I've had friends and family tell me that they can't read, especially at night, because they fall asleep. While I have been known to drift off to never-never land a time or two myself after a busy day the act of reading itself hasn't put me to sleep.

After the busy holidays which happened to coincide with a busy time at work I have to say I was happy to put away Christmas decorations, get back to my regular work week and get my reading groove on.

Well, that lasted a week. One. Week.

As of this week I'm on a three-quarter schedule which really translates to I'm scheduled to work 30 hours but actually work 40 hours. A year and a half ago I was working 50 hour weeks as a matter of course. This week I feel like a kindergartner. You know how the kids are always so tired that first week of school? There's just so much new and exciting stuff to see, do and learn. My boys would fall asleep at the dinner table they were so worn out.

Apparently after a year and a half of either not working at all or only working part-time I'm apparently out of practice. Working full time this past couple of weeks has worn me out. Sheesh!! Every time I pick up something to read I'm falling asleep. It's enough to give a girl the reading blues. And who needs that when I have a great book I'm reading right now, THE SPYMASTER'S LADY by Joanna Bourne. I'm only 104 (out of 374) pages into it, but I'm really enjoying the book.

Man, I hate giving up the hours to sleep. Now that I know sleep is such an important component to good health I really try to get a decent night's rest. But it's hard not to think about what great stuff one could do with all that extra time!

Stuff I'm Pondering

Andrew Morton has written an unauthorized biography about Tom Cruise this time. Since many of his assertions (not all) about Princess Diana, in the unauthorized biography he wrote about her, turned out to be true it does have one wondering about those he's made about Tom. As a Catholic I've had plenty of opportunity to see zealotry and reactions to religion that border, in my opinion, on idolatry rather than faith. There's some weird voo-doo done in the name of God/faith. Scary stuff.

Do you believe Dr. Phil is an opportunist in the Britney Spears situation? Was he really called in by the family or did HE call them and offer to help thereby garnering attention for himself? What a sad and sorry situation. I agree with the consensus that Britney has to decide to get herself well at this point. No intervention, celebrity therapist, or family member can help or save her if she doesn't want to be helped or saved. The TMZ article I've linked to speculates she may be bi-polar. That makes as much sense as anything at this point.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated a week and a half ago and there are really no signs of things settling down in Pakistan any time soon. I was sort of astonished and impressed that President Mussaref called in Scotland Yard to help with the investigation. After doing a bit of research and reading I'm more startled by the courage and grit of this woman. Her father was assassinated. She'd been exiled for close to 8 years in London. Her entire life was filled with unrest and violence in her country yet she was able to articulate change, moderation and speak out against Islamic extremist violence.

How does one wake up in the morning go about in an open air car and bravely speak out against known violent enemies? I'd be cringing under my blankets. I'm in awe. Truly.

I rarely dabble in politics because everybody has an opinion and we are all about peace, love and joy here at NOBODY ASKED ME. Yeah, you didn't ask but I've been doing a lot of pondering about Barack Obama. Is it too soon to be hopeful? Oprah's endorsement aside, and it was HUGE, can such a voice of reason be heard over the mud slinging and be elected president? After reading about the hope and resistance of Benazir Bhutto, I have to be hopeful about Obama. Bill Bradley, former Rhodes scholar and NBA star, now a Senator, as of today endorses Obama. GG, a devout republican, is a Bradley fan because Bill Bradley has so much integrity. So this was big news, at least in our household.

I'm finished with SHADES OF TWILIGHT by Linda Howard. I never tire of that book. It's been a few years since I've read it and there are certainly some things that aren't politically correct in it. Didn't stop me an iota from enjoying the heck out of the reading experience though. I'm sort of stymied what to read next because I'm on my SOT high. I bought the Joanna Bourne book SPYMASTER'S LADY based on a few reviews I've read about it. I also picked up MOVING TARGET by Cheyenne McCray. Don't ask. Ms. McCray is hit or miss with me and I browsed and picked this up.